During his visit to Germany from October 12 to 15, Prime Minister of Mongolia L.Oyun-Erdene met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and agreed to deepen and expand bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
Premier L.Oyun-Erdene, in specific, voiced his desire to increase energy and infrastructure cooperation, before expressing his interest in exchanging experiences in the areas of defense and culture. He asked the German side to actively cooperate in the development of the energy sector and major infrastructure and investment projects and programs that were discussed at the G7 Summit such as the Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant Project and Thermal Power Plant No. 5 Project.
“Mongolia will cooperate with Germany in implementing a phased training program for 1,000 engineers. Moreover, relations between citizens and enterprises are crucial for interstate relations. We agreed to increase the number of direct flights and actively develop Mongolian Studies and cultural cooperation,” the prime minister informed. During the talk, the parties exchanged detailed views on the goal of bringing Mongolia’s road transport and public transport reforms to European standards. They agreed to establish an official passenger and freight transport agreement between the two countries in the near future and operate a bilateral joint working group.
They also discussed cooperation for supporting private sector production and export-oriented businesses and exchanged views on global geopolitical tensions. The prime minister stressed that both Germany and China could help negotiate a peaceful outcome to the conflict.
Premier L.Oyun-Erdene shared with Chancellor Scholz about Mongolia’s efforts to create a legal framework to protect thousands of Russians who have fled to the country in an effort to avoid being conscripted into the Russian army and sent off to Ukraine.
Scholz highlighted that Germany seeks to strengthen ties to Mongolia, citing the country’s wealth of key commodities such as copper and rare earth elements.
“Mongolia will become an important partner for many raw materials in our diversification strategy. Now, we need to identify concrete projects and ensure legal certainty for investments,” he added.
Scholz also said combating climate change and transforming the energy sectors would be the focus of a meeting in Mongolia next year, adding that the country has “enormous potential when it comes to wind and solar power”.
The sides agreed to start joint research work related to the implementation of the semi-processing of rare earth elements.
Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene expressed his confidence that the visit will be an important impetus to bring Mongolia-Germany relations and cooperation to a new level.
On top of that, he paid a courtesy call to President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier. During the meeting, the premier said that the government of Mongolia attaches the utmost importance to its relations with Germany and noted Mongolia’s goal of advancing the current level of relations between the two countries, which is being developed at the level of “Comprehensive Partnership”, to “Strategic Partnership”.
The German president underscored the significance of the high-level visits in further strengthening bilateral ties.
The parties agreed to organize high-level visits within the framework of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, which will fall in 2024.
On the sidelines of his official visit, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene met President of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Martin Schulz to discuss the possibilities of deepening cooperation between Mongolia and Germany in mutually beneficial areas.
The premier expressed willingness to continue to cooperate in strengthening parliamentary governance and the development of political parties, while President Schulz commended Mongolia for being a beacon of democracy in the world.
